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GOOD NEWS!!! This is a first person account of how one person went from being an ex-con to being an entrepreneur. It’s proof positive that no matter where you’re from or what circumstances you come from you can rise above and make something of yourself. Life lesson. Check it out:

Today’s BEST. THING. EVER!!! I love this clip because it’s pure unadulterated joy. You know, if I had a choice of dream jobs it would be a game show host for either the Price is Right or Let’s Make A Deal. Because the people they have in the audience are truly joy personified. And this clip is proof positive of it. Take a look:

GOOD NEWS!!! Sexual assault has been in the news a LOT lately, thanks to high profile news items like the Brock Turner rape case and the remarks a United States presidential candidate has made. Unfortunately, especially in the latter case, there seems to be a lot of finger pointing and bickering and yelling without any sort of satisfactory resolution to the matter. Thankfully, in a RARE vote of bipartisanship, both houses of Congress have come together to pass a bit of legislation that will make it easier for rape victims to have free access to rape kits and for those rape kits to not be destroyed until the statute of limitations has run out. And that’s why it’s today’s GOOD NEWS!!! Check it out:

I know it’s a little early in the year to be talking about “a few of my favorite things”. But it’s never too early or too late to be grateful for the little things in life that bring us joy. So what are a few of YOUR favorite things? I encourage you to sound off below. And even if your favorite things aren’t suitable for public consumption, I encourage you to take a moment to thank the Universe for bringing you little joys everyday. In fact, let’s do it together. As part of our daily spiritual practice let’s write down things that we’re thankful for. Each day I commit to sharing at least one thing I’m thankful for. Feel free to join me in this endeavor by commenting below what you’re thankful for everyday, or keeping your own private journal of thankfulness. Either way, I encourage us all to take a moment each day to thank the Universe for the blessings that have come our way. I look forward to reading what you have to say.

Today’s BEST. THING. EVER!!! I often say in my private conversations with people that everything we do starts and ends with a why. For everything we do it’s always a good idea to start by asking why. “Why am I doing this?” And then be honest with the answer. Be brutally honest with the answer. And then when you’ve accomplished what you set out to accomplish, it’s always a good idea to again ask “Why did I do that?” And then be brutally honest with that answer.

My why for doing this is because I want to leave a legacy of some sort behind. A good legacy. A legacy that will be remembered for a little while until it fades into the obscurity of time. I want to be remembered as someone who left the world in a better place than what he found it.

The truth is I have no idea how many people actually listen to my podcast. Or check out my social media. Or read my BEST. THING. EVER!!! or GOOD NEWS!!! articles. I really don’t. When I speak into the microphone and hit submit, it’s like I’m speaking into a vast unknowable darkness. And when I type these words out and hit publish I have no idea how many people I’m impacting. Yes, Facebook keeps count for me. But half the time I don’t even check it. I just hope that whomever needs to hear the words from my podcast or read the words from whatever I post that day across social media, will get to it and it will make a difference to them.

And if I’m being completely honest, I do want to be remembered. I don’t have the blessing of children of my own. I am single with no mate on the horizon. I have friends and family who know and love me. But since I want to leave the world a better place than what I found it I want to make sure that I reach as many people with love as I possibly can. I want to leave a legacy.

Not for fame. Not for notoriety. There are easier ways to get both, and both ultimately are illusions that fade away quickly. But I want to make a difference, a POSITIVE difference to as many people as come across my website, who sit down for a reading, who listen to my podcast and follow my social media. And when it’s all I do want to be thought of fondly when I leave this mortal coil. I want people to say, “You know Stephen didn’t get it right most of the time, but when he did he really made a difference in my life.”

And that’s why this story speaks to me on such a core spirit level. This teacher, who unfortunately was in the final throes of the cancer that would ultimately take his life, was a positive influence on so many people. When 400 kids – high school kids, no less – turn up on your front lawn to serenade you, that’s saying something about the impact you had on lives. Its an amazing testimony to a person who made a difference in so many people’s lives. And they repaid that kindness by serenading him into the afterlife. That’s beyond words incredible.

Today’s BEST. THING. EVER!!! gives me all kinds of feels. And I’m going to be 100% real in this post. When I think of meditation, when I think of yoga, when I think of holistic living I don’t immediately think of inner-city kids. I don’t think of black people in general. And that’s REALLY sad and ironic because I’m a black man myself. STRAIGHT outta the ‘hood. And I’m ALL ABOUT holistic living and meditation. (Haven’t quite gotten into yoga yet, but God’s still working on me. LOLOLOLOL) Instead, when I think of all of the above I think of skinny, well-off white women who have nothing better to do with their days than shop, work-out, do yoga and drink a green leaf smoothie afterwards with their girlfriends. I know, it’s VERY cliche’ for me to think that way. But it’s just the way it is.

So to actually see three men (yes, MEN! – two of them men of color) actually go back to the neighborhood they were brought up in Baltimore and do this kind of work with the most at risk elementary kids in school is absolutely inspiring to me. And for the record it’s not just the neighborhood, it’s the HOOD. One of the men says, “The reason they call it the ‘hood is because all the neighbors moved out.” One of the men says the kids they work with are living in a real life war zone, so it’s no wonder the kids they encounter are living with some sort of PTSD.

The other thing that strikes me about this video is it’s people of color that are trying to bring in a holistic way of living into the lives of the children they work with. Again, going back to the vision in my head of wealthy skinny white women doing yoga, that’s what I think of when I think of holistic living. Even though I’m as black as black can be and I’m working on being as holistically healthy as I possibly can be. So to see other people of color doing something to make their old neighborhood a better place to live in a holistic kind of a way is like a breath of fresh air to me. Yes, there are people of color who think outside of the box. Yes, there are people of color who want to live a balanced life. Yes, there are people of color who want to be as holistically healthy as possible. And they don’t have to live in Beverly Hills, drive Teslas and aspire to be a Kardashian. They’re everywhere. They’re your next door neighbors. They’re your co-workers. They’re your friends. They may even be members of your own family. You don’t have to look towards the rich and powerful to see people living a lifestyle that’s balanced and holistic. All you have to do is look out your front door.

GOOD NEWS!!! Costa Rica is showing bitches how it’s DONE! As of this writing, Costa Rica has been 100% running on 100% renewable energy for two months. That’s right. An entire COUNTRY is running on renewable energy and has been since June! That is AMAZING news!

Now the haters will say Costa Rica is a small country with only 4.9 million people. Whereas the United States as of 2014 has around 319 million people. And China has 1.37 billion. So suck on THOSE numbers! But wait a minute… There are approximately 30 states (and the District of Colombia) in the US who have less than 4.9 million people in them. THIRTY!!! So even if HALF of those states committed to running on renewable fuel, IMAGINE how much MONEY would be saved! Now I promise I won’t get into politics here and how politics and business go hand in hand sometimes. But I will say Costa Rica is living PROOF that if there is motivation to do so, it can be done.

The truth of the matter is fossil fuels are a finite resource. Eventually the earth is going to run out of them. And then where will we be? We have made small strides here and there to wean ourselves off our dependency on finite fuels. But it’s my opinion that those tiny strides need to happen more and more often. That way when the time comes and we do run out of those finite resources, we’ll already be utilizing Mother Earth’s backup plan. And that’s why it’s today’s GOOD NEWS!!!